WEBINAR:On-Demand

"Design and themes have been a key part of the Linux
buy-in for as long as I can remember.

"In fact, once upon a time, the look and feel of application was
actually used as its primary selling point to me. Back in 2000, at
the LinuxWorld at Javitts, I made a comment about some app being
very buggy (I don't recall which), to which the enthusiastic
developer actually replied, "yes, but look at how cool it
looks!"

"Yes, well, DeLorians looked cool, too.

"While I never thought looks should be the main reason you
should try something--and thank $Deity my wife subscribes to that
view, too--there's no denying that the design of Linux
distributions and their component apps play a role in attracting
users. We're human beings, with brains wired for visual
stimulus-routines. Pretty->acquire is a very base reaction."